Kimco Realty aims to transform a partially redeveloped mall in Whittier into an urban village with 1,200 homes, a hotel and retail.
The New York-based real estate investment trust has filed plans to redevelop the Whittwood Town Center at 15466 Whittier Boulevard, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
Built in 1961 as an outdoor mall and eventually converted to an indoor mall, the 66-acre property has since undergone various makeovers, including the addition of more than 110 condominiums. The 750,000-square-foot mall now houses a Target, Kohl’s, PetSmart, and CVS Pharmacy.
Kimco, owner of the mall since 2017, now seeks city approval to turn the property into five districts that would make up a new Whittier destination for shopping, dining and home.
The new complex, which just entered its environmental review, would include 1,200 residential units, 600,000 square-foot of shops and restaurants, a 300-room hotel and a new transit hub.
A Major Retail District in the center would feature shops and restaurants around a new pedestrian plaza.
A Whittier Boulevard District along Whittier Boulevard would incorporate existing stores and restaurants and make space for new cinema, restaurant, parking, and service uses, plus outdoor plazas and seating.
A Villages Plaza District in the southeast corner would include the proposed hotel, small stores and open space.
A Villages Services District on 6.1 acres in the southwest corner would feature unspecified buildings along private streets and walkways.
A Residential Village District would include the already built condo community.
Kimco Realty has not announced a timeline for construction.
The project is one of a handful large developments now being pitched for the city of Whittier, including a new plan from City Ventures, Thomas Safran & Associates, Gentefy, and SVA Architects that could bring 344 mixed-income homes and shops to Uptown.
In September, Kimco Realty filed plans to build a 209-unit complex at a shopping center in Fremont, in the Bay Area.
In February, it paid $134 million to buy an additional 85-percent stake in the Brookvale Shopping Center in Fremont and the Anaheim Plaza in Anaheim.
— Dana Bartholomew